Lawmaker killed, another shot at in Minnesota: What we know about the attacks, the suspect

Indian Express

8 hours ago

A search unfolded across Minnesota's Twin Cities region Saturday after the assassination of one Democratic state legislator and the attempted assassination of another. Officials said the gunman, who escaped after a shootout with police, was impersonating a police officer and carrying a list of targets that included politicians and abortion providers.
State officials said the suspect, whom they identified as Vance Boelter, 57, was believed to still be in the Twin Cities area but might be trying to flee. They shared a photograph of him wearing a cowboy hat that they said was captured by a security camera in Minneapolis on Saturday, not long after the overnight attacks.
Officials said the gunman killed Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and wounded state Sen. John A. Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in separate attacks at the lawmakers' suburban homes.
The attacks shook political leaders from both parties, and many condemned the killing, which took place on a day of national protests of President Donald Trump's policies.
'This was an act of targeted political violence,' Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota said. 'Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don't settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.'
Trump said he 'been briefed on the terrible shooting that took place in Minnesota,' adding that 'such horrific violence will not be tolerated.'
A list found by investigators in the suspect's car included about 70 potential targets, a federal law enforcement official said. The list included former and current politicians, doctors, community and business leaders, and locations for abortion providers. Lexi Byler, a spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., said Smith was on the list. Some of the targets were in neighboring states.
Investigators from state and local departments and the FBI flooded the region as they searched for the gunman. The FBI offered a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
The Minnesota State Patrol urged people not to attend political protests Saturday 'out of an abundance of caution' after they found papers that said 'No Kings,' the title of the coordinated demonstrations, in the gunman's car. Some rallies in the state were called off as a result, but scores of people still gathered outside the state Capitol in St. Paul, many carrying American flags or holding signs that read 'No Kings.'
The two victims
Speakers at that demonstration paid tribute to Hortman, a lawyer who was a legislator for about 20 years. She served as the speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives for a six-year period ending earlier this year. Hortman helped Democrats pass several key policies on abortion rights, marijuana legalization, medical leave and other issues in 2023 and 2024, when her party briefly held full control of the state government.
Hoffman, a fourth-term state senator from Champlin, another Minneapolis suburb, chairs the Senate's Human Services Committee and has said he strives for 'collaboration across the aisle.' His home address was published on his bio page on the Senate's website.
Both houses of the Minnesota Legislature are closely divided. Before Hortman's death, the House had been evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats have a one-person majority in the Senate.
The shootings came days after the conclusion of an unusually acrimonious legislative session, during which tensions over party dominance had turned into a legal dispute, and a narrowly divided statehouse struggled to agree on a two-year budget.
The shootings were the latest in a series of recent attacks on political figures that has shaken American politics. Gunmen and arsonists have targeted politicians in both parties, from state-level officials to Trump, whose right ear was grazed in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally last year.
Just over two months later, Secret Service agents traded fire with a man they called a second would-be assassin at one of Trump's golf courses in Florida.
In April, a man was charged with setting fire to the residence of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania. Not long before, the Republican Party headquarters in New Mexico and a Tesla dealership near Albuquerque were firebombed, at the height of Elon Musk's involvement in the Trump administration. And less than a month ago, a man gunned down two workers from the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
Officials shared some information about how the attacks unfolded, including the quick thinking of a police sergeant that led officers to the Hortmans' home. They arrived too late to save the couple, but they engaged the gunman in a shootout, and after he ran, they were able to seize his car.
Around 2 a.m., officers from the Champlin Police Department responded to a report of a shooting at a home in Champlin, in the Minneapolis suburbs. There, they found Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, injured with gunshot wounds.
Officers from Brooklyn Park, a nearby suburb, assisted in the emergency response to the Hoffman home, and a sergeant from that department became concerned after discovering that one of the victims was a politician.
'In hearing that, that very intuitive sergeant asked our officers to go check on Melissa Hortman's home, the representative that lives in our community,' said Chief Mark Bruley of the Brooklyn Park Police Department.
Two Brooklyn Park officers drove to Hortman's home around 3:30 a.m., and when they pulled up at her street, they were met with a strange sight: A police vehicle, or what appeared to be one, was already there, parked in the driveway with its emergency lights on.
As the officers approached, a person who looked like a police officer — dressed in a blue shirt and pants, sporting what looked like a protective vest, carrying a Taser, and wearing a badge — was at the door and walking out of the house.
When confronted by the officers, the person immediately opened fire. Police fired back, and the person 'retreated into Melissa's home,' Bruley said. It wasn't immediately clear whether anyone had been shot in the confrontation.
Officers moved to the entrance of the house and saw Mark Hortman's wounded body. They took a few steps inside the home, dragged Hortman out and attempted first aid. He was pronounced dead shortly after.
More officers were called to the scene and surrounded the house. A SWAT team arrived and sent a drone into the house, which helped its members find the body of Melissa Hortman inside.
But the gunman escaped on foot, officers said, and officials began a 'large scale' search.